Inherent Cost Author Chat and Release Party

Today, Thursday, August 11, 2016, 8-10 PM EST (5-7 for those of us on the US West Coast), we will be hosting an online chat with author, Alicia Cameron, discussing her recent release Inherent Cost, along with the rest of her works through ForbiddenFiction.

I usually start with dialogue, actually. I’ll write pages and pages of conversations between my characters, exploring what they’ll say, how they’ll say it, why they choose to speak (or not speak). When I first start with a new character, I spend a lot of time thinking about what they would value and how they would interact with others and what made them like that.

I guess all my characters sort of sound like my voice in my head, but a little different. Like how it would be if you’re reading a book out loud and you’re not necessarily doing different voices, but changing the inflection.

I absolutely didn’t! But it just sort of happened–the worlds expanded from a close couple getting to know each other, to a few “outside world” challenges, and suddenly, both of them are dealing with international politics.

Largely the Arona politics were inspired by the Ebola virus outbreak last year. I just found it so fascinating (in an awful way). When I needed a little inspiration for the story, that was what was on my mind.

Absolutely. I think that’s something that occurs in almost all societies–we put structures into place to have some sort of organized society, but when it comes down to it, these same systems can really be a hindrance to progress. People need to be really active when they try to challenge these systems.

Yes. It’s so easy for those in power to take advantage of it. Whether it’s an individual getting offended about something, someone wanting to go on a power trip, or someone trying to make a point, it’s a huge risk.

Jere scowled, but he was running out of options. It always came down to this: he had to fit in, or he had to leave and abandon his family. Only one was an option, but he wasn’t going to take it lying down.

“I don’t remember everything that it does, but I know it mandates that slaves are seen by real medical professionals. It provides some other protections as well. I was perfectly content to leave well enough alone, but if they’re going to interfere with both my slaves and my clinic, I want a more active role in this. I need it. There’s not much I can do, but I can do this.”

“I’m not doing this to make her happy. I want to keep treating slaves in the clinic. A lot of owners are already bringing them here because it’s inexpensive and convenient, and from the survey we did a few weeks ago, even the biggest assholes seem to like the fact that their slaves are up and ready to work a lot sooner. When I tell people that I’m being forced to stop, they’ll be just as angry. Do you really think we should lie down and take this?”

So, the SRA is the “Slavery Reformation Act.” Basically, a movement to treat slaves better and to mandate that they are seen by human medical doctors instead of veterinarians for their healthcare needs.

Cool, thank you. One of the things I run into as an editor is helping achieve a balance between big-picture issues and personal issues for the characters. You get too big-picture, and it loses emotion. You focus down too much on the personal, and it loses context.

To be honest, I had no idea–however, she did inspire the whole series! That was the first idea I had for the story and world as a whole–this abrasive teenage girl who finds herself being more or less adopted by two gay men who don’t have any idea of what to do with her. Then I realized that I needed some sort of explanation for these men and their lives, and then Inherent Gifts was born. Ironically, Isis doesn’t even come into the picture until the second book, Inherent Cost.

My plan for the spin-off is to explore Wren’s younger brother, who is also a slave. He gets involved in a rebel group, fighting the whole institution of gift-based slavery. It’s a more adventure/action sort of book, which will be a nice shift. Basically I want to blow things up in some scenes.

And, while we’re excited about this, here’s a sexy scene from the beginning of Inherent Cost! Wren just smiled. He was getting quite skilled at the hurting part. He had been trained for years to make his masters feel good, but hurting someone had terrified him the first few times. The way Jere coaxed, begged, and came harder than ever when they played like that assured Wren he was on the right path. Lately, Wren had taken on quite the ambition of his own.

Wren fully supported the plan. He toyed with Jere for a few more minutes, working him up and warming him up until Jere was rocking hard and heavy against his hand, begging Wren to fuck him already. Wren drew it out just a little longer, pushing Jere closer to the point of desperation, and then he granted Jere’s wishes, replacing his fingers with his cock and slipping into Jere without missing a beat.

It was strange, feeling his cock entering a space that he had just warmed above usual body temperature, if only by a few degrees. In theory, Wren could warm any part of his own body, but he hadn’t yet been able to master the trick of making his cock generate heat. At least, not more than it did naturally.

Yes–I’ll admit, I’m jealous of these gifts that my characters have! Between the ability to set fires and play with heat, and the psychic conversations they can have, it just sounds like so much more fun than real life!

There are some normal people, but it’s not really good to be normal. Essentially, most people either have a physical gift, which is an enhancement of a normal human ability, or a mental gift, which is something that normal humans can’t do. Then there are the people who have neither. In societies like Arona, where those with physical gifts are enslaved, those with no gift are just sort of ignored–they aren’t “good” enough to have a mental gift, but they’re not subjugated like those with physical gifts, either.

One of my favorite shorter works was the alternative timeline one you did called “Twisted Gifts” that shows a different take on what might have happened to Wren & Jere. It showed some possibilities for what else is going on in that world.

My master seems to do some sort of acrobatics with his tongue, and he’s putting pressure in just the right places, and sucking just enough, and he’s using his hands to stroke and touch around my cock and balls and ass and the more I think about it, the more I want him inside me.

You know, a friend of mine is always trying to get me to get Wren & Jere into threesomes (or foursomes, or moresomes), but I’m not sure I can see Wren going through with it. Jere, yes! Wren’s still a little cautious. Maybe if he ever gets out of the slave state.

that can be a very diverse power there are even different types of magnetism that can be manipulated other than ferromagnetism which is what is usually displayed in movies like the X-men. I am excited to see where you can take that power

Indeed! I have a lot of ideas of what to do with the magnetism idea, but want to research it a little more so I have some idea of what I’m talking about. Half the time I try to stick the wrong side of magnets to things.

Jere was glad that the organization had been improving their rates, but it wasn’t enough for him to get excited. He couldn’t help but glance over at the vet, her very presence highlighting just how many dangers were out there for him and his slaves. “That’s still awfully risky. I wouldn’t attempt surgery with a loss rate that high unless the only other option was certain death.”

Kieran smiled. “With the elections and the worry about disease, patrol forces are being redistributed for public safety, attention is off the borders. That means a better chance of getting across the borders to freedom. Wren and Isis could go.”

Jere’s stomach clenched at the thought of either of them taking that risk. When the vet looked over at him, making eye contact for a moment, the feeling intensified. He waited for her to say something, to do something, but she looked away, focusing her attention on Wysocka instead. She had acted so superior in her clinic—in her town—but this was Jere’s home. Publicly engaging with him would only bring trouble to her. “They’d have to go separately, I’m assuming.”

I think because their relationship was pretty strong and well-developed in my mind, it got easy to overlook at times. At one point, I had so many scenes where they weren’t even together! Poor boys missed each other.

Exactly. By the end of the book, they’ve sort of settled into this married couple routine–complete with adopted child–and so it became a little more work to get them to notice each other over everything else that was occurring in their lives.

It can be. If I get too close to them, I try to make them human! If I were ever to try to write a book from her POV (which I won’t), I’d probably find something human and likeable about her. But keeping them at a distance allows me to be a little more callous with them.

Wren scanned the faces of his attackers. He knew a few of them; he had filed their paperwork at the clinic. “Please, just let me go home,” he repeated, trying to stay calm. “We can forget this ever happened. I can pay you. Nobody needs to know.”

“We don’t want your fucking money. But we do want someone to know,” one of them replied. “Tell your fucking lackler-loving master just what can happen if he doesn’t stay in line. To you, to the little girl he keeps hidden in his house. He acts like you’re both some prized possessions, but everyone knows you’re just his whores. We want to remind him what you’re supposed to be used for.”

“What are you going to do, report me to the police? Think they’ll believe your story, or do you think that they’ll believe that you were so lonely and sex-crazed after your master left town that you begged us all to take our turns with you?”

Wren said nothing. He closed his eyes, focused on suppressing his fire gift, and waited for it to be over. He couldn’t fight them; to lay hands on a free man was asking for whipping or worse, and he couldn’t escape them. He could contact someone with his mind gift, but it was even more dangerous. He’d rather take whatever they would do to him than risk exposing his other gift. He steeled himself as he felt his body twisted and turned in the air, and he tried not to make a sound as he felt hands tugging at his clothes. He reminded himself that they weren’t planning on killing him; they were going to rape him, probably beat him up, and then send him back to his master. He had lived through far worse. He just hoped he would be in a condition to wait for his master.

LOL that is a good question! He can more or less create heat around what he touches. He is immune to his own fire for the most part, so he can create a fireball in his hand and not burn, even though he is in contact with it. If he were to burn someone, he’d do it either with an external fire, or he could touch them and ignite them.

That is a good question. At first I just had him igniting “things,” but over time, he’s able to make his own fire out of nowhere. It does sort of tire him out to do it, so maybe it is some of his own energy.

My sister has done Igloo camping. Apparently, they do actually get really warm inside, and the body heat melts the walls down the sides so the holes all stop up. You have to be careful to make the opening big enough to get back out the next morning!

He kept flitting around Jere’s body, kissing here, biting there, almost burning in other places. By the time he was satisfied, Jere was jumping and gasping with every touch, uncertain whether it was going to be sensual or burning hot, a light caress or a stinging scratch. Red patches covered Jere’s skin, and Wren felt the heat growing between them as Jere gasped in pleasure.

Wren pulled Jere into the position he wanted him, leaned back against the headboard, his hips angled in the exact right direction, his cock hard and ready. Wren straddled him, spreading his legs around Jere and easing down, brushing his ass against Jere’s cock.

It has to do with the way the laws in Arona are worded. They specifically state that anyone *with* a physical ability is a slave–regardless of anything else. So Wren, no matter what, is a slave in Arona law. This is bad enough, but very, very few people have more than one gift. People would be very interested in finding out WHY he has both. Is it a brain abnormality? Can they study a subject and figure it out? And who better to experiment on than a slave.

Jere’s breath caught at the casual command; Wren had been picking a speck of dirt off of his skin, but when he spoke, he flicked his eyes up to meet Jere’s. They were cold, quiet, and hard. It took Jere a minute to realize what he was even supposed to do, but when he did, he obeyed, crawling across the bed on his hands and knees.

Before he could process it, Jere felt his hair gripped tightly again, pulling him away, then pushing him down on his back. He gasped and let Wren get him started at his own pace, knowing that any attempt to take control on his own would be rebutted. Jere enjoyed the way that Wren took charge, and he happily relinquished his control over the situation.

Poised above him like a predator, Wren worked his teeth and tongue across Jere’s skin, tasting his lips, biting his earlobes, licking and biting at his neck. Even the slightest attempt by Jere to change the course of their explorations was met with sharp, swift punishment—a roaming hand pinned down, a twitchy leg smacked, an adventurous tongue shoved away by a rough hand. Jere just relaxed, content to respond to Wren’s touches.

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